


Brown

by rileywrites



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: (of sorts), Character Study, Draco Malfoy in the Muggle World, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 00:25:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16051670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rileywrites/pseuds/rileywrites
Summary: Draco dyes his hair brown.He looks in the mirror, and he no longer sees the spectre of his father staring back at him.





	Brown

**Author's Note:**

> Saw [this tumblr post](http://bucckkyy.tumblr.com/post/178272244492/nymphrea-it-is-exceptionally-lonely-being) and wrote this in 10 minutes in a rush of inspiration

Draco dyes his hair brown.

It's exceptional only in its mundanity, a mousy color reminiscent of the teddy bear that Draco will never admit he kept from his childhood.

He looks in the mirror, and he no longer sees the spectre of his father staring back at him.

He keeps it up, though the maintenance is a bitch, redoing the color as the white-blonde grows out.

Brown is ordinary.

…

Draco buys a brown coat for winter.

It's a large, shapeless thing, thick warm wool to protect him from the icy chill of climate change and the prying eyes of strangers.

When he wraps the coat around himself, collar pulled up high around his throat and ears, he feels all but invisible.

The coat serves him well all winter, and when spring comes, he packs it carefully into a storage bag and tucks it away in his closet.

Brown is comforting.

…

Draco buys a brown couch.

It's overstuffed, wildly dated, and the best decision he's ever made, despite the shabbiness of the fabric and the odd lumps in a few places.

He sinks into the upholstery at the end of a long day of looking at numbers and pulls his obnoxiously-bobbled afghan over himself and turns on the TV to watch whatever pops up on one of the BBC channels.

It's begun to curve to his shape, the lumps rearranging as he spends time at home.

Brown is enveloping.

…

Draco drives a brown car.

It's old, but in good condition, and he got it for a good price. It's the kind of car you could park in a public garage and find three or four of its brethren among the aisles of vehicles.

There's something about driving his ugly brown car that feels like the most irreverent rebellion, a Malfoy driving a Honda Civic from 2004.

He takes that car everywhere, driving all over England while he sees all the sights he used to shun for being "too muggle."

Brown is freeing.

…

Draco lives a brown life.

It's simple, quiet, easy despite every bone in his body singing with the reality of his birth on major anniversaries and events.

He doesn't go into the wizarding world, sticking to his brown car and his brown couch nd his brown coat and his brown hair.

After a lifetime of black and green and white-blonde, brown is good. Brown is relaxing.

Brown is anonymity.

...

"Malfoy, is that you?"

Bottle-green eyes behind black-rimmed glasses, set into a concerned brown face.

"You look…"

Draco pulls his brown coat tighter and braces himself for impact.

Harry smiles, a soft, tentative thing that reminds Draco of bobbly blankets and hot chocolate and bourbon biscuits and-

"You look good."

"I… Thank you."

"Of course." Harry looks up at the sign above them, at the coffee in Draco's hand. "This seems like a stupid question, but do you want to go for a coffee?" 

"Sure."

…

Draco's life is still brown, but now…

Now, the obnoxious afghan is a disgraceful red-and-gold Weasley creation, and Harry's black coat hangs next to Draco's brown one.

The couch is joined by a deliciously soft green overstuffed chair, as ugly as the couch if only through sheer determination.

Harry parks his black and silver motorbike beside the Civic in the garage.

Draco continues to dye his hair brown, but its not a defense anymore.

He does it because it makes him happy.

And when Draco comes back to the flat, those same brown arms are there to welcome him, hanging his coat before wrapping around his waist. 

Brown is home.

**Author's Note:**

> I headcanon Harry as being of British-Pakistani descent, fyi. Just. Yeah.


End file.
